About Me

Anthony Balducci, 52, studied journalism at Baruch College in Manhattan and earned a criminology degree at the University of Florida. His first book, a biography of film comedian Lloyd Hamilton, was published by McFarland in 2009. The Funny Parts, a book detailing the history of gags and routines, was published by McFarland in 2012.

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Saturday, November 19, 2011

Film of the Day: Der Kurzsichtige Willi Heiratet (1913)

In 1913 German comedy Der Kurzsichtige Willi Heiratet (translated as The Nearsighted Willi Gets Married), a nearsighted man is set up on a date by a marriage bureau. The man, warned that his potential bride does not like eyeglasses, removes his own eyewear prior to their meeting. The man, half blind, has a hard time finding his way to the woman's home. He walks into a closet, he knocks over a hat stand, and he gets trapped in a revolving door. The couple meets, falls in love, and agrees to marry. On their wedding night, the groom finally puts on his glasses and is able to see his bride clearly for the first time. He is so repulsed by the woman's looks that he instantly takes flight. The final moments of the film show the man struggling to exit the spinning revolving door as his bride and the doorman rush to the scene.